Transmission system for automobile vehicles



Jan.

M. F. A. JULIEN TRANSMISSION SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILE VEHICLES Filed March9, 1945 Patented Jan. 18, 1949 rmsivnsslew SYSTEMfEoaAUTUMom-nffvEHIoLEs- Y Y L y l Maueicelliameois.-AleaandreJflimQBanisgltraneaappesantire-Maren 9', 1mg-serieuse. 5812893 f 1 meme!! .1111199519435The present invention relates v totransmission lsystems of the kin'dofftlose usediineonnetion with automobile vehicles, that' is to saywhich includeY a gearbox or changev-snee/cllgear interposed between theengineA andthe driven partei' member and intendedtto permitOLVaryingWitbin a'given range, for, instance from. l ton toil. to 11the, rati'oV of 'the respective, speeds. ofi the driven partand'thejdrivingj shaft. But it vsliould'be notedfthat the"invention` isnot limited" to.'its..application to automobilejvehicles and"v also.extends. to. all. systems of thisv kind' for any plant or machi'riefyThe.l chief. object of, the present inventionis.- to permit of' reducingthe slbacev occupied. by such systems, and. of. simplifying-theme v I"Aeepi-ding .to-an .essential feature'v ot the. present invention, withthis object in view, I int'erpose,. asystem/ of theleind abveAmentioned,` onthe input side (or eventually on the output side)-2 oitheicbange speed gea-r, areducing or multiplying gear: 'which permitafonthe rangeV of gearratios thaty isl considered, todisi'fributethevarious, gear combinalonsiiof; theV gea-1: box intelmultiplying, gear, combinations: andreducing gearv combinationagl with"a. view, forA instance,A to= reducing; the,- maximumigdiameter ofthepinionsia'nd-,. senses, quenly; the? spaceoceupied bythe. changespeedgearibox..V` f

`.According-f'toanotherfeature of? the present'invenrtion, whiehrellatesto: internal combustionuen-l gines,`;in1. partcula-1:, as: `used in:connection withl automobile vehicles', li.v make use; for the trans`missi'onioithe drivingtorque of i'fh'eengine, of? the cam=shaft or shaftservingvto operata the valve gear (which shaft is, as a rule, driven ata speed? differentifrom;l thatsoi? the driving shaft, orerankshaft,generally onel'halff* of this speed): ,1 and this Cam-shaft-may be4usedE forvl drivingl the change speed gear, according t'rirtlefilrstYifea-ture; above mentioned. K u

'According'.ft'o still another featurehoff theA presentlinxzentiorr,4whichmayfhe used separately `fromv those aboveaset forth; inra-systemincluding an iri'` ternalf combustion iengine and avr-change 'speed'geaifwith 'a clutch interposed between sai'd. enginefand saidv gear;said? clutch iss controlled through meansf'extending; through one-offthe shafts of" the change'A speed? gear; for instance` the lrimatryIshaft thereof."

@ther features'of' the presenti invention will resultI from thefollowingdetaileddescription of" aj'spe'eie'embodimentthereoffif-preferred'- em-bodimjent offthe present 'inventiori1 lvvill'behereinafterfdescribec with reference" Patent expires June T963( to`the acocmpanying dra'Wingsgivenvmerely-riby:

Way ofexample, and* in which; A

The; only figure-. shows, in. partial.' aXiajL section, a power plantfor an. automobile vehiblm of kind' including a,conibaldierential'gearvdifsposed.

in close vicinity to the-clutch. (for.A instantie. forl the directdrilveo 'steerablefvel'ii'ele` Wheels), ,1, thisI plan-t being made aoeordingto, the.- present' in vention. v y

In the following@ descriptiomthe ,ir-mention.Will--y be. described.applied; to ,the A ease of.; an automa-f bil'efvehicle inwhichitisf-desired toftransmit the;

driving torque to; the.shaft-byv which the diff 12+ entiaL gearisdriventhrougl'iia change-speed; g ai; and witha; transmission. gear.- ratiefGas; abeveadey nedq; ranginglfrom 1- toamtolntal.5

Accord-ing te'thepresen-ti inventions this term is devised .sirenymannerfthatsaid; @hengel speedeeflrf;U irlsteafi-Oy ybei-ng. drivendirectly ibn# theV4 erankfshaft-f of; thef` engine; i.x e; ati the;stuneiv speed-fas.- saidiishaftaa usual;t is: driven7V at', a.; lbvvei:`speed, obtained by means of-:anmsuitabler-redueri-f ingfgear; l

Een' instance; one: embodiment, oil; thel` inefvention: among.: rnanyffothersi; which: 'bei agi'ned, the primary' orY input. shaftoff the.change speedlgeantis. driven at@ suspeed equal;` toiy one halff ottthespeed: of: the. engin-fe crank-shaft; or driving: shaft.` In: this.,casse; anfdf` supposing rior irias stancethat` the lowest transmission;ratioL of? rfli'el changeispee'df. gear is: equal t'o. 1lV tol 4',- thecorre--y spending gearcombination ofthe ela-angey speed*v gearishouldleorrespondito a@ reduction ratio-"ofiv 1i 'c0121y vvliletheIk highest3gearcombination @bien under-"fnormalz conditions, 'correspondstbjdiiecii,

drive) must correspondL to=` agmultiil'icationj ratioequal!tor'.Zito*1.` Y

Inf-willi be readiiymnderstood that, sueh",A an*Yajrrangement,y thehighest. and". lowesty gear," ratios of* the change speed" gear arefgiven valuesV dii'erent"v from the" correspndng. value sfi'n the,

caseof" thefusujalv arrangement. As oneolf these.' values is` greatertha-nii and the. other;l lowerY than' 1", in orderL to obtain, a. given;ratio; between' them, it is no longer necessary to. give the two gea-r-Wheels eorrespomiingjtb thelbwe'stgear such, aik great differenceA'between theirdiameters..

n Therefore'tire' diameter of' theA largest gearwheel; f is smaller;than ihthe` usual gearbox Wil.,el`iy..A

tlijespaee; occupied? by thewvhole;devieeeisrejcued;

li'ii.rtliermore,l it isV possible. to obtain; tiajiily the sameYeincieneyforxtbe various trans'.-

lcounter-gear trains turning freely on the primary shaft or thesecondary shaft of the gear box or even on a special countershaft.

For instance, on the embodiment illustrated by the drawing, and whichcorresponds to the case of the conical or bevel gearing of thedif#-vferential being driven directly by the gear box, said gear box mayinclude the following elements.

a. An input shaft I which receives its motion from the engine, at aspeed equal to `one half., of

that of the crank-shaft or driving shaft 20,1

and,

c. The pinions intended t transmit motion with different gear ratiosfrom one shaft to them other, according to any suitable arrangement.

The change speed gear shown by way of example by the 'drawing is'`supposed to give four different gear ratios; 3

The first rand second' are 'obtained at' will by displacing 'agroup oftwo pinions 6 and 'I adapted to slide on the output shaft 3, so thateither 6 is `brought* into mesh witha pinion 8 keyed on the inputshaftI, or 'I is brought into mesh with another pinion 9, also keyed on saidinput shaftrl The third and fourth gear ratios are obtained throughpinions I0, II, I2 and I3 always in mesh two by'tw'o, that `is Yto sayIll with I2 and II with I3. One or the other of these combinations isbroughtinto actionby means of a sliding clutch 'element |5-I4. This wayof controlling the" gears can advantageously-be used in Ylieu of theusual synchro-mesh system, which is obviously more complicated. Thisadvantageis-due to the fact that the inertia of the clutch means, whichhas a preponderating effectwhere gear changing is concerned, is in thiscase divided by four'since the input shaftisrotating -at aspeed equal toone half of the usual speed. The whole may, as usual, be housed inside asingle casing I6 which, with my arrangement, can be :reduced `torelatively very small dimensions (owing to the moderate size ofthepinions of the change speed gear) as shown bythe drawing.

lConcerning the means for reducing the speed of revolution between thedriving shaft, or crank-k shaft of the engine, and the change. speedgear,v

they may be of any suitable conventional or other type. Preferably,asshown-by .thedrawing, theV means in question are constituted by gearwheels such las IIV and I8, located close to the'fly-Wheel I9 of theengine. `The crank-shaft of said engine.

is `shown on the drawing kat 20.

`According to another feature of the present invention, which may,eventually, be used separately,'I A'make use, for` transmitting motionfrom the"r driving shaft ofthe internal combustion engine, and theclutchegea'box unit, of the engine cam-shaft or similarfshaftor elementintended to control the enginevalvefgear, which cam-shaft is generallydriven at a speed equal tol one halfy of that of the crank-shaft. Y

In the draWing','.lI"haveLshown this arrangement, which isparticularlyadvantageousl for4 practical purposes. Asillustrated, the motion of,`the driving shaft 2li is transmitted to -cam-shaft- 2|, which ofcoursen,thi`s case, is constructed in such manner as to be able totransmit the driving torque. Said cam-shaft 2| is in. turn operativelyconnected withv clutch, `through which the motion passes to the changespeedl gear through the input shaft.

For this purpose, as it can be seen on the drawing, said input shaft Iis made hollow, so as to leave an axial passage for a rod 22 capable ofsliding in said shaft.l This rod 22 is fixed, at one of its ends, to oneofthe plates 23 of the clutch, so as to be able to push it against thea'i'ztionl of a spring 26, preferably disposed along the common shaft ofrod 22 and cam-shaft 2I. Advantageously, the clutch disc 29 is connectedto its hub 28 through rubber blocks 121. It is A.thusfpossible todisengage the clutch by axially displacing 'rod 22, this axial movementbeing for instance transmitted by' means of a push-piece 24, withathrust ball-,bearing 25. y I

vSuch an arrangement permits of reducing to a minimum thespace occupiedby the meansfor controlling the clutch.

AWhatever be thelspecic arrangement that isy f adopted,l I obtain asystem" the working of which` results sufficiently clearly from thepreceding description for making it unnecessary to enter into furtherexplanations.l This system has, over systems of the same 4kind'asalready exists, manyr advantages amongwhich ,the following may be cited:The totalspace necessitated byfthe system isY much more moderate; f i iII'he forces brought into play when changing from one gear'to anotherhave beenconsiderably reduced;

TheV construction of the wholeis greatly sim-l lJlied.` i 1 In ageneralway, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to bepracticalV andefilcient embodiments of the present invention;` it-shouldbe well understood that 'Idofnotwish tombe' limited theretoas theremight ibef the meaning of the terms usedfin these claims.'

(same as in the abovefdescription), what Icall` the gear ratio of atransmission from a'fdrivingw shaft to a` driven,` part is the ratio oflthespeed: of the driven part to the speedof theudrivingw Shaft- 'ifv3*.

Likewise, what I call the gear ratio of a change speed gear, o r gearbox,is the'ratio of the speedof thefoutput shaft of said change speed,gear-'to` thespeedfof the input shaft thereof.A

What I claim is:

V1.,- In a system including a driving shaft-and a driven part,a 4changespeedtransmissionforz transmitting the movement fromfthefirst of saidVshaftsl to the ,other with 'at least two` different gear ratios `thehigher ofwhich is at most equal, to 1 to ,1, this transmissioncomprising, in com,, bination, ay change speedgear lof the typeincluding -an input shaft Vand an outputv shaft having i their axes at adistance fromy each other, `with gears carried by said shafts fordirectly interconnecting them, said changespeed gearbeingy constructedto giveatleast twodifferen t gearA ratiosone of which is higher thanIto- 1. vand the-Other..atmosteqliel t0 1 to. .Lireduias-.seer

means for coupling the input shaft of said change speed gear with saiddriving shaft and means for coupling the output shaft of said gear withsaid driven part, the gear ratio of said reducing gear means and the twogear ratios of said change speed gear being so chosen that the productsof the first by the other two, respectively, are equal to the two gearratios to be obtained for the whole change speed transmission system.

2. In a motor plant including an internal combustion engine with itscrank-shaft, and a driven part intended to receive motion from saidcrankshaft with at least two different transmission gear ratios thehigher of which is at most equal to 1 to A1, the combination of a changespeed gear of the type including an input shaft and an output shafthaving their axes at a distance from each other, with gears carried bysaid shafts for directly interconnecting them, said change speed gearbeing constructed to give at least two different gear ratios, one higherthan 1 to 1 and the other at most equal to 1 to 1, an intermediate shaftcoupled with the input shaft of saidchange speed gear, reducing gearmeans between said crank-shaft and said intermediate shaft, the gearratio of said reducing gear means and the two gear ratios of said changespeed gear being so chosen that the products of the first bythe othertwo, respectively,l are equal to the two transmission gear ratios to beobtained between said crank-shaft and said driven shaft, and means forcoupling said driven part with the output shaft of said change speedgear.

3. In a motor plant including an internal combustion engine, with itscrank-shaft, and a driven part intended to receive motion from saidcrankshaft with at least two different transmission gear ratios thehigher of which is at most equal to 1 to 1, the combination of a changespeed gear of the type including an input shaft and an output shafthaving their axes at a distance from each other, with gears carried bysaid shafts for directly interconnecting them, said change speed gearbeing -constructed to give at least two different gear ratios one ofwhich is higher than 1 to 1 and the other at most equal to 1 to 1, anintermediate shaft provided in said internal combustion engine, reducinggear means between said crank-shaft and said intermediate shaft, clutchmeans for coupling said intermediate shaft with the input shaft of saidchange speed gear, the gear ratio of said reducing gear means and thetwo gear ratios of said change speed gear being so chosen that theproducts of the rst by the other two, respectively, are equal to the twotransmission gear ratios to be obtained between said crank-shaft andsaid driven part, and means for coupling said driven shaft with theoutput shaft of said change speed gear.

4. A motor plant which comprises, in combination an internal combustionengine including a crank-shaft and a cam-shaft driven at a reduced speedby said crank-shaft, a driven part intended to receive motion from saidcrank-shaft with at least two different gear ratios the higher of whichis at most equal to 1 to 1, a change speed gear of the type including aninput shaft and an output shaft having their axes at a distance fromeach other, with gears carried by said shafts for directlyinterconnecting them,said change speed gear lbeing constructed to giveat least two different gear ratios, one higher than 1 to 1 and the otherat most equal to 1 to 1,

' means for operatively connecting said input shaft with said cam-shaft,and means for operatively connecting said driven part with said outputshaft, the two gear ratios of said change speed gear being so chosenthat their respective products by the gear ratio of reduction betweensaid crank-shaft and said cam-shaft are equal to the two gear ratios tobe obtained between said crank-shaft and said driven part.

5. A motor plant unit which comprises, in combination, an internalcombustion engine including a crank-shaft and a cam-shaft driven at areduced speed by said crank-shaft, a driven part intended to receivemotion from said crankshaft with at leastk two different gear ratios thehigher of which is at most equal to 1 to 1, a change spe-ed gear of thetype including an input shaft and an output shaft having their axes at adistance from each other, with gears carried by said shafts for directlyinterconnecting them, said change speed gear being constructed to giveat least two different gear ratios, one higher than 1 to 1 and the otherat most equal to 1 to 1, clutch means for coupling said input shaft withsaid cam-shaft, and means for operatively connecting said driven partwith said output shaft, the two gear ratios of said change speed gearbeing so chosen that their respective products by the gear ratio ofreduction between said crank-shaft and said cam-shaft are equal to thetwo gear,` ratios to be obtained between said crank-shaft and saiddriven part.

MAURICE FRANCOIS ALEXANDRE JULIEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

